


A story within the story

by Myrsky



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Established Relationship, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, truly shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-26 02:12:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3833167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myrsky/pseuds/Myrsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki is sitting on the couch, in front of the TV, when Tony comes back to the tower which is a very strange occasion, usually Tony has to compel him to get him any close to the TV “I would like to see it all, just like you saw it, Tony.”</p>
<p>It's not like Tony has ever been able to deny Loki anything and he's not going to start now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A story within the story

Loki is sitting on the couch, in front of the TV, when Tony comes back to the tower which is a very strange occasion, usually Tony has to compel him to get him any close to the TV “I would like to see it all, just like you saw it, Tony.”

It's not like Tony has ever been able to deny Loki anything and he's not going to start now. “What's it, Lokes?” He walks to the couch, sitting right next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him for a kiss “Just got home, I have no idea what were you thinking all day.”

“The time when I arrived to Earth.” He squeezes Tony's leg, his fingers caressing the fabric of his suit trousers “I need to see what did you see in me. Why you wouldn't allow Thor to take me back to Asgard.”

Tony chuckles, fitting himself closer to Loki, so close that he can almost feel Tony's warmth through his clothes “Feeling mushy today? Jay, fetch the video files.”

“It will be ready in a moment, Sirs.” JARVIS says, the TV turning itself on and a list of videos loading on the queue to allow them to play them as they wish.

The first video on the list is one that makes Loki cringe, because it is the moment when he appeared on Midgard through the portal, taking the will of some men and killing others to run with the Tesseract. He didn't expect Tony to talk about this one, he expected him to run over it and ignore it like it had never happened, to forget all the bad things he had done once.

Tony's voice is soft, however, almost tender “Lokes... This video, it was shown to me when they recruited me for this mission, to capture you.” He rewinds it, until the image is frozen on Loki's face, his pale face, the bones showing under the dry skin and the black rings under his eyes. “I had seen that face before, I had seen it in my own mirrors when I came back home, I knew its meaning. I could understand you a bit, even then, while I was reading the report on how you killed dozens of men into an explosion.”

Loki nods, Barton had told him about Tony having been captured in the past, held against his own will by the Ten Rings. He had never asked, he had never wanted Tony to revive that thoughts just to comfort himself, just to not to feel alone in the having been tortured instance.

Tony kept talking in the same tender voice “I recognize, it made me feel intrigued about your motives, why would you obey your captors and what was so special about that blue cube. It picked my interest enough to participate in this thing, so I read every bit of info that we were given in the briefing. And then I went to Stuttgart. On my own, instead of waiting for SHIELD to come and pick me up, like they had done with all the others.”

The next video starts playing, switching from one camera to the other until the image pulls back – then he sees himself from Tony's eyes for the first time. His armour, full battle regalia topped with the horned helmet, shining golden over the stone covered streets, fighting Captain America... He looked up, when the music started playing, trying to understand what was happening – why was he being interrupted. And getting shot by the repulsors... oh, it had stung a bit. His quick surrender had nothing to do with the pain it had inflicted, he just wanted to be captured.

“Why did you surrender so easily? I mean, even if it was your objective, you could have easily harmed us. Given us a bigger reason to keep you captive.” Tony turns to look at him, a totally innocent look of curiosity in his eyes.

“No, dear.” He tucks Tony's hair away from his eyes, it has grown in the last months, enough to cover Tony's eyes when he tilts his head, usually when he is focused “You all had enough motives with the facility's explosion at my arrival. I did not want you to try to kill me and I wanted you all to feel confident, to underestimate me. I had no need to make you even more upset.”

“Surely worked. You looked so cute sitting there, hands on air.” He leans to the hand touching his hair “I wanted to keep you so bad. My stuff. You became my stuff that moment. You had been fighting Capsicle, but you surrendered to me.”

“I did not surrender.” Loki's eyes are shining with mischief.

“Oh, but you did.”

“Did not!”

Tony pokes his tongue out and lays his head on Loki's shoulder before gesturing JARVIS to keep video feed, quickly moving from the German streets to the Quinjet, where the image flicks between his suit's cameras and the Quinjet's ones. His cameras have better views of Loki, since he was standing next to him. Right when the storm started, Tony paused the video.

“This part, I have played it a lot of times. You talk in riddles sometimes, Bambi, but I did understand that one. Wasn't pleasant but I kinda liked it.”

“Because you love being a genius” Loki nods, with a bright smile because that part, even if it hadn't been on his plans, had been... way funnier than it had any right to. When the door opened and Thor snatched him from the plane and the fight between Thor and Tony started...

Loki simply chuckles lowly, a quite strangled sound, like he was laughing despite himself. Which he was, by the way, because the face that Thor had pulled when he saw that the Midgardian was resistant to the lightning of Mjölnir was pretty much the same face he had when the sceptre didn't work either. Looking back at it now, he shouldn't have been surprised, even if the magic from the Tesseract was some scales over Mjölnir's power.

Tony pauses the video, as to get the motives why he is laughing, because Loki is laughing so much that there are tears in the corner of his eyes and he also looks like he had just understood something really important that had slipped between his hands before.

“So it's that thing what makes you resistant to magic, isn't it?” Loki asks now, a hand waving in the direction of his chest “The star that you embroidered on your heart.”

It's Tony's turn to chuckle now “Star? You think I've a star in my heart?” His chuckle quickly develops into a hearty laugh, that doesn't die until Loki is scowling at him “Holy shit, you are serious! No, I designed it, just like the suit.”

“How can you design a... star?” He says, still scowling, the fact that Tony is laughing because Loki doesn't know something is making him feel particularly murderous, and it filters through his eyes, making Stark shut up for once.

“It's not a star, Lokes, it's just a miniature of the arc reactor powering this building. It keeps me alive, as you know.” The first time that Loki had laid a hand over his reactor while having sex, Tony had had a small panic attack, being forced to tell him about the source of his fear. “I never knew it was magic resistant, until you tried that. Because, let's face it, what Thor's frigging hammer produces is electricity and my suit is powered by some form of hyper-efficient electricity, but it's electricity nevertheless and it just overcharged my power reserves. Luckily. I mean, it could have shook me dead.”

“It is not the same. I saw the reactor of the building and it is not the same energy as your chest contains. When I lie over you, I can feel it humming, like magic. Had I not known you as Midgardian, I would have thought you had Aesir blood and that you were, undoubtedly, trying to hide your magic from your shield brothers.”

“Loki, seriously. I designed it, I created it. It's mechanics, it's physics, it's science and I can solemnly swear that it's not any kind of magic.” Tony puts a hand over his chest, in a swearing gesture, his fingers over his own heart, not too far from the reactor.

“Tell me of the circumstances.” Loki demands, making Tony swift in his sitting spot, suddenly very uncomfortable.

“I was dying.” He waited for a moment before keep on talking, trying to see if Loki would be sated by that but, of course, he wasn't and he simply kept staring at Tony with the same intensity he had been staring before “I travelled to Afghanistan. For making a missiles demo. Got kidnapped, there was a bomb with my literal name on it exploding next to me. Got my chest full of shrapnel and despite the surgery, there are still fragments in my chest. Got an electromagnet attached to a car's battery to keep the shrapnel away from my heart, thanks to the person who saved me. I decided it was a bit too much of a hassle to carry around, and the risks were too high, and I created this babe in the cave.”

“This one?” Loki taps his chest lightly with his fingers, poking him to keep talking about the whole story.

Tony holds his hand, entwining their fingers together to keep him from touching “No, yeah, no way this is it. No. The first barely had enough power for a fifteen minutes ride, it was created to run away from the cave, I ended up walking in the middle of the desert after I escaped, the thought of dying after escaping not too far behind me. Nope. The first two versions ran on palladium. Don't let the nice name trick you, buddy, my blood was getting poisoned and I was... well, dying again. Then, I created this one. The element on it wasn't known on Earth, I created it.”

That made Loki open his eyes widely, like it was something he never heard before “What? You created its core?”

“Yeah, yeah, exactly that. With a little help from my father, I was following a design of his that couldn't be created in the past.” Another video pops on the list, labelled as  _ The Discovery of the Element & The New Reactor's Core _ . Tony quickly plays it right until he integrated the new core into the reactor and put it into his chest, his eyes lingering on the places where he knew that the black lines on his veins would have shown if it hadn't been for SHIELD's injection...

“Anthony... that is... you have surpassed the knowledge of most of the realms... on your own...” Loki ducks his head a bit, to rest it against Tony's, cuddling him closer.

“I did what I had to do...” Tony shifts to kiss Loki's cheek before keep playing the video. The image sometimes shows Loki, sitting on the top of the rock and staring at Thor and Tony fighting, an amused smile on his face.

Loki winks at Tony “It was so pleasing to see you and Thor battling. I'd have the two of you fighting all day long, if it wasn't because you amuse better in other ways.”

Tony grins “I knew it, all my abilities would be appreciated by some sexy piece of ass some day! But, you know, fighting Thor actually left me pretty hammered. My suits and JARVIS would resent me, if I made a hobby out of that.”

“We definitely would, Sir, if you were still working with that technology.” JARVIS quickly replies, sounding so confident in how would they fight with Thor today's technology – a few months of working after meeting some of the highest forces of the universe has made Stark Industries to advance quite a lot, both in Iron Man's suits and every day's technology.

Tony laughs, burying his face in Loki's hair, threading his fingers through his hair. “I have time for one god only and I prefer that one to be you. And I really hope he learnt not to touch my stuff.” He is ravishing Loki with his eyes, his gaze shouting _'cause you are mine, babe_ much louder than any combination of words could do it.

A couple of videos pass through quickly, with their arrival to the helicarrier, Loki being put in a cell while Tony took the Iron Man's suit off and stepped into one of his usual suits. The quick banter between Tony and Bruce makes Loki chuckle, he's so used to having both of them talking in science around him that he could blend into any laboratory and none would notice that he's not human.

When all the Avengers start fighting at the lab, Loki can't hide his amused smile. Even if he knew that something like that must have happened, it was hilarious to see them bickering against each other and Tony has the best resources to make everyone upset. They both are staring at the TV like their favourite show was on. And then, hell broke loose as Barton and his team approached the helicarrier to free Loki.

The image switches from Thor going down in the glass' cage to Tony talking to Steve. Coulson's death is not played, and Loki knows better than to ask, because despite of how detached Tony wants to be – he is not. Loki is fully aware of how lucky he is of having been forgiven because they both are alike in that aspect, their rage can be firmly trusted because there is no clemency when they have decided against something or someone.

Tony looks like he is preaching whenever he talks to Steve, like he has to explain everything in full detail to make the man follow him “And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered...” Tony on the video pauses for a second, eyes wide open and mouth half open and looking knowingly at Steve, saying “Sonofabitch” before fleeing out of that camera's sight.

Loki pushes him off of the place where Tony was cuddled, shoving him with both hands at his waist but still careful to not to send him flighting all over the room “You insulted my mother, Tony! I can't believe this!”

“Not your mother! You!” Tony grabs Loki's wrist in his hands to not to fall off the couch, pulling himself closer “You know I have a big, dirty mouth. That moment you had outplayed us and you were playing at _my_ tower. The tower I just built. I hadn't even declared it open!”

Loki deadpans at him, sneering so lightly that it would have been imperceptible to anyone who didn't know Loki as well as Tony did.

“I know, babe, it's _our_ tower now, but back then? Gotta remind you that I had total rights to insult you. You know, alien invader invading my stuff.”

That seems to placate Loki's humour and he pulls Tony back in his arms. “I shouldn't have invaded your tower. But the tower is kind of cute. It has the aesthetics of Asgard, it's not all squared and pointy like the other buildings around it.”

“Of course it is pretty. I built it.” Tony shakes his head and gestures, because that's the most obvious thing in the universe, anything Tony Stark does is beautiful.

“Pot, meet kettle.” Loki says referring to Tony's words about him being a diva but Tony beams in happiness, same as he does any time Loki uses any Earth's reference.

To Loki's delight, JARVIS decided to show a clip of Tony patching his suit, and Tony's arms never cease to mesmerise him, the sheer power in them showing every time that he is occupied at the workshop. Loki wolf-whistles and Tony chuckles at that. JARVIS knows them way too much for anyone's good.

And Loki keeps grinning when the video moves on and he sees Tony walking into the tower, taking off his suit and going in a straight line to the bar. Now that he knows him, he can see that he was scared, really scared and that he was only playing with the bottle to hide the tremor in his hands even if he felt confident about his plan not failing. The way he slides in the bracelets to call on his new suit is one of the most confident moves he has ever seen, Tony knew that Loki wouldn't get anything from that gesture.

“I should have taken the drink then. I was so tempted.” Loki says, a hand wandering to Tony's waist, his fingers sliding towards his back.

“Hush, I took that moment to check on you. See, that moment, when I was pouring the drink. You know that look, babe.” Tony grins, looking Loki from feet upwards again, biting his own lower lip.

“You, infuriating mortal.” Loki leans in and kisses him, so chastely that Tony pouts when Loki pulls back. “I just wanted you and you made me defenestrate you.”

“That's a pretty word for what you did, babe. For being known as the Prankster, you kinda can't take jokes on you, hmm?”

Loki scowls before pressing his forehead against Tony's, rubbing their noses together before reclining back in the couch “Not when they are against my honour.”

“Such a big, proud thing you are.” Tony winks at Loki, resting his hand on top of Loki's thigh as the video keeps going on, the scene moving after Loki throws Tony out of the window, focusing into the battle and making them both stay still for a moment.

Loki cringes every time Tony gets hit and Tony cracks up when he hears himself saying “JARVIS, you ever heard the tale of Jonah?” just to have JARVIS joke back at him “I wouldn't consider him a role model, Sir.” just before he flew into the Leviathan.

Loki is sure that the video related to Tony and the nuclear missile is accelerated. He is totally sure. Seconds couldn't go so fast back then, his feelings are flourishing into disbelief, anger, a weird sense of acceptance, regret, so much regret filling his body. Tony, _his Tony_ , almost died because of him. His heart almost stopped beating. He looks at Tony, who is slightly pale and doesn't take his eyes off of the screen, a morbid fascination on them. What would have been of him, if he hadn't found... if Tony hadn't found him worthy.

Whatever he thought when Thor and he were younger, being worthy to Odin's eye isn't important at all. Not when he has Tony. Tony, who is bright, intelligent, dashing, who has all the beauty of the universe into his eyes.

And Tony's eyes turn to him, and he is smiling. He just cuddles next to him before Loki can say anything and keeps the video going on.

The Avengers are going back into the tower now, victorious. Tony pauses the video unexpectedly, almost when it's over. It is the last video and Loki is grateful, because he has no desire to relive the two days he spent at SHIELD before Tony pulled him out.

“See that? That is the moment you stole my heart, cupcake.”

“What are you even talking about, Tony?” Loki answers back, teasingly.

Tony presses the play button again, the image focusing on Loki, who was laying on the floor, clearly concussed as the Avengers came closer. “If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now.” He whispers, trying to hold on the ground to straighten up slightly and failing to do so because his spine was trying to mend itself but he still managed to pull a small smirk. The camera switches to Tony's face, out of the blue, JARVIS pausing the video then. And the smile Loki sees there freezes him for a second, because it's brighter than a thousand suns. It's like the ones Tony shares with him when they are all alone in the bedroom, touching, cuddling, kissing,... it's one of the smiles Tony draws when he says _I love you_.

It is the smile that explains why is he sitting at Stark Tower instead of having been thrown back to Asgard to rot in a cell and Loki can feel his heart beating like a drum inside his chest, everything else in the world blocked out.

There is nothing but a smile on a screen and a man besides himself.

Loki grabs Tony's tie and pulls him for a kiss trying to show in acts all that his words could never lie about.

**Author's Note:**

> This is shamelessly fluffy. I don't know how I wrote this but this cuddly Loki/Tony wouldn't leave me alone (not like I wanted them to leave me alone. Nope. Never.)
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://myrskyhao.tumblr.com/) if you want to drop by and say hi.


End file.
